Set in Stone
by Procrastination Attacked
Summary: Jaded, young, homeless earthbender has her life turned upside down after a failed attempt at robbery.
1. Robber

The cold night air was still. The trees remained motionless, their leaves glowing slightly with the light from the lamp posts. Not a sound was heard, for there were no moving creatures in the area at that point. That specific part of Republic City Park was like a painting, frozen, lifeless, in a way.

Except it wasn't.

In the shadows, a dozen of little lives waited. Their presence, and actions, had scared the nightly fauna, and so they stayed motionless, in hiding. Not entirely motionless, for those of them who didn't have the luxury of more than a layer of clothing — and that was a considerable portion of them — were shivering. It was said Republic City was a land of opportunity, of togetherness, a place singular in the way it allowed for people of all walks of life to coexist, and thrive, pacifically. Bunch of crap. The only thing Republic City had in equality was how it would attempt to equally destroy all of those who weren't fortunate enough to resist its "gift". A girl among the people hidden in the shadows knew this too well.

The thought of the word — equality — sent a different shiver down her spine, reminding her of the latest attraction in the show of horrors that was Republic City: the Equalists. Those freaks thought it was wrong to be able to bend, they thought benders should stand among non-benders as, to use their precious word, "equal". It disgusted her, to think of their selfishness, their ignorance. Being able to bend an element was a gift, and as such those capable of doing so should be entitled to different treating. If it weren't for bending, she wouldn't even be alive anymore.

Her line of thought was broken by a sign, given to her by one of her fellows, hiding a short distance away. Their target was approaching, and so was the moment to strike it. The sound of wheels against the dirt road, and the grumbling of the engine, announced the imminent arrival of the cab. The sound was enough to hide the noises coming from the other side of the road, even from the girl's attentive ears, but she knew what was happening, and what would happen afterwards.

Imperceptible to the cab driver, a bump appeared on the road, right beneath it, connecting with its hind wheels and halting it to a stop. The cab driver, perched on the back of the vehicle, was propelled forward, rolling over the top of the cab and falling to the ground in front of it. Fortunately, for him, the engine's urge to move the vehicle was being completely denied by the bent earth on the wheels.

That was it. Half of the shadow people left their hiding places, revealing themselves in the dim yellow light. Kids, all of them, same as the girl, who was still hiding. She was one of the oldest, her fifteenth birthday coming soon. Sometimes she would think about how unfair life was, to let children fend for themselves in a place like that, but that always reminded her of the orphanages, and she would shiver and perish the thought. "The lesser of two evils", as she had once read in a tattered book.

She watched as the kids got into formation — if you could call that shameful arrangement of inexperienced benders set some distance apart in a road a "formation". Most of them bent terribly, they barely knew any forms, rarely bothered learning new ones, and failed miserably when trying to do so. Even now, as they faced their target, only one of them seemed like a _real_ bender, and it was him who spoke.

"Exit the vehicle", his voice was firm, and his eyes intense. He stood out among the other kids, not only in height, but in other aspects as well. He had to, he was their leader.

The passenger, or passengers, of the cab, shrouded by the shadow of the vehicle's roof, stepped out of it slowly, into the artificial light, which revealed a tall, dark haired man, over forty years of age, dressed in fancy green robes. Earth Kingdom, most likely, or maybe just someone who liked the color. That'd be refreshing.

This was their fourth strike on the park. The first two were a mess, they barely made it into the park without the police spotting them, and it was pure luck that they managed to escape. Or maybe the police let them slide, being street urchins and all, which would be more likely. Then, they decided to get smart, and actually plan this, and study which parts of the park were less patrolled until they found this patch that had no security most of the time — the girl's theory was that it was so the rich lovers could do what they please without the police watching. Their precious privacy would be their downfall, as was proven right when they robbed a fat man, who was sharing a cab ride with a woman wearing tight clothes and heavy make-up. They got a quite a lot of yuans from that strike, but almost all of it was taken from them by some Triad thugs. This fourth strike was the last, they would get the money and go someplace new in the city, try to make a living. The leader was trying to learn lightning bending so he could work at the power plant, and she was trying to find a good waterbender so they could try their hand at pro-bending (the one on their Triad — it looked a lot like on at the moment, why call it something else? — was too young and weak to be able to compete). Things were looking up for once, if only they could pull this off.

The rich man looked at all of them as if they were insects, like their existence meant nothing to him. He shot a glance at the fallen cab driver, but didn't check if he was okay. "That bastard", the girl thought, "I'm one of the people robbing you and even I care if the driver's not too hurt, rich piece of—"

The man's deep voice uttered:

"You may run now, or fight me. Choose."

The shock was common, nobody expected opposition like_ that_. But they had planned for this; he was, most likely, a bender. Things just got harder, but unless he was some great master, their numbers would probably be enough. "Please, let our numbers be enough."

Although a couple of the younger ones, and that coward Shi, flinched, none of them left, and rapidly adjusted their stance. Glances were shot at the standing man, who stared darkly into Lei's — our leader's — eyes. He returned the stare in matching intensity.

The man, after what seemed to be a calculated pause, said:

"So be it. The ones in the shadows may step out now; I prefer to take you all at once."

Wait, what? How could he know they were there? Their cover was perfect, and the girl was making sure nobody moved an inch. Well, until now, since sounds were coming from all around, from the surprised kids. Most of them weren't expecting to actually fight, they were the backups, it was supposed to be enough for the main team to handle. Things were going off-track too fast.

Personally, the girl wouldn't back away from a challenge — something that had gotten her in trouble several times — but she was aware of Lei's orders. Lei was one of the very few people the girl would listen to, and so, she stayed in place, serving as an example for the rest of her team.

The man talked again, without removing his cold gaze from Lei:

"Suit yourselves."

And then it happened. It was all so fast. The man quickly shifted into a bending stance that the girl had never seen, and started bending the earth using only his left arm and his feet. It was incredible, one motion from the arm to the side, and Shi and one of the kids were catapulted into a lake on the other side of the trees. One sweep from the leg and another one fell flat on his back, incapacitated, quickly followed by the one next to him who, in a bending motion that the girl didn't catch because she was still watching the effect of the previous one, got swollen by the earth, up to his waist. That one was an earthbender, the girl had trained him herself, and he was a good bender as well, but he was terrible under pressure, to the point where he couldn't focus enough to bend his way out his present condition.

All that was left was Lei, who surprisingly maintained his stance. "Not surprisingly, I guess", the girl thought. She had observed for quite a while how Lei remained firm in the face of adversity. She admired that.

The earthbender apparently noticed he was different from the others and saved him for last. Lei started attacking as well as he could, shifting his position to avoid hitting the cab driver, the stuck earthbender and the other kid, sending waves of fire against the man in rapid swoops of his limbs and thrusts of his fists. The flames blocked the girl's vision for a couple of seconds, but when they subsided, it was already over.

The road was deformed with a couple of stone walls, and Lei was struggling to release himself from the grip of a group of rock spikes that both restrained his movements, preventing him from performing forms, and pointed his fists, and the one foot that was off the ground, away from the earthbender, so that even his basic flame blast would be of no use.

The earthbending man spoke again, his strong voice rising above Lei's noises of distress and frustration:

"The ones that remain in hiding, you may fight or flee. Choose."

The girl had a plan set out already. Lei wasn't going to like it, but she had no choice. She signaled her orders to her companions in the shadows, took a deep breath, and stepped into the road.

She didn't waste a single second, and was proud of how her team, if you could call it that, moved efficiently. She quickly bended the earthbender out of the ground and told him to get the knocked out one away, and as she did so, all the kids in the shadow dashed past the road and went to the ones who were thrown in the lake, with orders to abandon everything and leave. As soon as Lei realized what was happening, he opened his mouth to protest, but the words disappeared with his breath when the girl bended the spikes away, crushing some and retracting others into the ground, faster than she ever did, making him fall. She turned to face their opponent, and said to Lei:

"Get them to safety, they need you to care of them, they can't make it on their own."

That seemed to convince him. He only said, before leaving for the rendezvous point:

"I'll come back for you as soon as I can."

She answered with a nod, without looking back, and raised a stone wall behind her.

"You choose to face me alone. Do you think you are better than your fellows?" the man said, while the girl could hear Lei running to meet with the others.

Her answer was a stone sent straight his way, breaking against a recently-erect earth pillar.

"We urchins aren't much for talking", she said dryly, as she slid to the side, skimming the earth as if it were ice, quickly raising another boulder from the ground and sending it on the man's way.

The chunk of earth met a tree outside the road where one of the kids had been hiding a while ago, causing several leaves to fall. Before any of them could reach he floor, she spotted on the corner of her eye the man, on the opposite side of the road from her, bending one of his walls into pieces and sending them her way, one by one.

She gritted her teeth and erected one pillar, then another, but the third one was a little too late, causing her to lose balance as it made contact with a boulder. Suddenly, she felt the ground starting to shift beneath her and rolled to the side as a hole opened up, and she walked backwards on all fours as another one appeared where she previously was. Frustrated, she bent a boulder with a kick, sending it in the general direction of the attacker. She didn't have a second to check on the attack, because she felt the earth was about to shift again, and she was in no position to dodge. Doing the first thing that came to mind, she slammed her feet against the floor and bent the earth to awkwardly catapult herself into the air, backwards.

There was a brief of moment of confusion while the world spun around her as she flew through the air, but it ended suddenly, when she crashed against a tree. She caught a glimpse of the man approaching her as darkness took over and she fell unconscious.


	2. Guest

She was alone, walking in the street, not a single living being in sight. The more she walked, the more desperate she became, and started yelling, and running, crying out for someone, anyone. But no one was there, nobody answered. She ran and ran and suddenly she was on the roof of the tallest building but she kept running, and over the edge she went, and she saw the ground rushing to meet her for a split second, before waking up with a jump.

The sudden movement made her head pound and she instantly got dizzy and felt sick. She cradled her head in her hands, and waited the pain off, slowly opening her eyes when it finally subsided.

She was in a dark room that she had never seen, sitting on a big bed. Thin beams of light peered through the closed curtains, meaning she had been out for several hours. She wanted to take a better look in the room, so she tried leaving the bed, but as soon as she got up on her feet the room spun around her, and she fell down on the hard, wooden floor. She felt sick again, and her head felt like it was going to explode, when a burst of light came through the door, forcing her to shut her eyes as she reached blindly for the bed, trying to get up. She heard a cry of surprise, and the sound of something being set on the floor, followed by a clanking sound. Soon after, hands were grabbing her, and she was too weak to fight, but the hands were soft and gentle, slowly helping her up and sitting her in bed.

"You shouldn't be up, you suffered a nasty blow. Here, lean against the pillows."

It was a soothing female voice, polite yet motherly, guiding her to the pillows that were arranged for her to place her back, which, she found out, was very sore, as soon as it touched the soft pillows.

"I'll get you some water, wait just a second."

She opened her eyes slowly, and saw what she could only describe as a very average woman, for she was not short and not tall, not fat or slim, and she wore her hair plainly in a bun. She dressed in robes, that although were much nicer than anything the girl remembered wearing, were still very common-looking. She picked up something on the floor — a metal tray holding what smelled like and appeared to be what those who ate on a regular basis called breakfast — and placed it on the nightstand that the girl luckily managed to avoid hitting heard on her fall. She did everything with so much skill, that barely a noise was made, the plates and cutlery remaining neatly in their places. She picked up a jar and started pouring its content on a cup, offering it to the girl, who took it and drank in small sips, feeling the clear water refreshing on her dry mouth and throat.

The woman waited patiently on the side of the bed, her hands folded in front of her. After finishing drinking, the girl gave the cup back and asked, awkwardly, as the woman started pouring some more:

"Excuse me, um, miss?"

The woman was startled for a second, but then smiled and said:

"You can call me Suyin, dear"

"Um, Suyin, could you tell me where I am?"

"Oh, all will be explained soon enough, dear. Here", she handed her another cup, which smelled nice and was releasing steam, "watch out, it's hot. Do you mind if I open the curtains?"

Everything was so overwhelming, and she was so tired and hurt and confused, that she just shook her head and started slowing sipping the drink, which tasted like tea, but was much better than any tea she remembered tasting.

Her mind started clearing up as the room filled with light, which hurt at first, but soon was very pleasant, warming her and letting her see the details of where she was. The room was simply decorated, but it clearly had an Earth Kingdom style – or so the girl assumed, she had never been to the Earth Kingdom, but everything that had shades of brown and green were probably related to it. The food on the tray next to her seemed delicious, and the tray itself was bigger than she had at first perceived, containing a tea pot, a jar of water, two plates of hot food that she did not recognize, and some bread. Her stomach made a sound too common for her, and she wished Suyin would hurry up with the curtains and help the food get to her, as she wouldn't be able to reach for the nightstand without falling over again.

She noticed that Suyin's robes were green as she turned around, but she noticed something else as well: she was missing an ear. In place of her right ear, she had a deformed shape, surrounded by a scar that reached into the middle of her cheek. She noticed the girl was staring, and her gentle smile became smaller as she said:

"Oh, I'm sorry; do you want me to cover it up?"

The girl realized she was staring, and turned away, feeling her cheeks flush with embarrassment:

"No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be staring… Sorry."

Suyin smiled larger, and said

"I usually have it covered and use make-up to soften the scar's appearance, but I was too busy this morning to tend to it. I guess it's for the best, Master Xin already doesn't like me spending time covering it up, under the circumstances he'd like it even less.

"Circumstances?" the girl looked up.

"With our special guest and all." She smiled as she placed the tray gently in front the girl, who was about to start eating, but a word that Suyin said had rung a bell.

"Master Xin?" she asked, feeling nervous, finally putting the pieces together.

"Oh, poor dear, you mustn't remember last night properly with the injury and all. I'll go tell him you're up and he can clear everything up, I should've done that as soon as you had awakened, anyway." She started leaving the room, talking to herself on her way to the door "He must be in the dining room right now, I'll-"

But her sentence was cut off when the girl dashed past her, running through the corridor. She felt her conscience slipping away, but she focused her mind and numbed out all the soreness and dizziness. All she thought about were her friends, Lei, the fight, the man who defeated them all so quickly, and she couldn't even hear Suyin yelling and chasing after her and calling for help. She ran through the wooden corridors, not choosing turns at random, until she stopped in front of two tall doors, gasping for breath. Without thinking, she opened one of the doors, hoping it would lead to the streets. But it didn't.

Inside, a long table was set for breakfast, and a man ate alone at the corner seat, as a couple of servants stood close to the wall. When they heard the door opening, they looked over in shock, and one of them rushed to the girl's side as the other one moved closer to the man. That man. The same man that was responsible for all that happened the previous night. Barely aware of the servant who tried to get her to sit down, she walked to the man, feeling as if she was about to faint, staring into his eyes as he watched her, a blank stare on his face. She managed to say:

"You! What… Did you… Where…", then everything went black.

When she woke, she was still in the dining room, sitting in one of the chairs as Suyin gently tapped her face with the palm of her hand, to wake her up. She looked very worried, and the girl couldn't help but feel guilty after running off on her like that, after she had been so nice. But that was nonsense; Suyin was paid to be nice to her. It was her job. Still, the other two servants didn't look nearly as worried, and the girl thought she might really care.

A few seats away, the man was eating calmly, and after noticing she was awake, said:

"Suyin, you may leave now."

Suyin looked back and seemed about to protest, but didn't, leaving after whispering "everything's alright" to the girl.

"You must have questions."

The girl was more confused than ever, as well as angry and scared. She wanted to fight that man and run away and get answers, all at the same time, but her body and mind were too worn out to perform any of those tasks, so she just stared at him, in silence.

"You were knocked unconscious when you catapulted into a tree to avoid my harmless restraining form. I brought you to my house and assigned Suyin to care for you. She told me you ran off before eating, so help yourself. It's my guess that you street urchins don't eat this well"

There were notes of sarcasm all across his sentence, which was strangely relieving, it made him appear more like an unpleasant authority than a cold assassin. The girl was famished, and the food did look delicious, so she decided she might as well eat up while she could. The man started talking again:

"We are in my estate in the city. Your friends got away from the park safely."

Friends. She couldn't help asking:

"And Lei?"

"I'm assuming you mean the firebender. I didn't see him again last night, his timing must've been off and he wasn't able to come to your 'rescue'."

So Lei was safe as well, good. She could imagine him being angry at not coming back for her in time, but it was probably for the best. Who knows what that man — Xin, as she had learned — would do if provoked enough.

She was eating silently for a while, before asking:

"Why?"

"Why? Why what?"

"Why did you bring me here? What do you want from me?"

To her surprise, the man laughed, looking at her with an amused expression:

"Your suspicion is endearing. I do not want anything from you, especially since there's nothing you can give me. You have nothing, remember?"

As if one forgets poverty, hunger, and fear.

"But you do have one thing, don't you?" he said, watching her angry eyes "You have pride. And even more than that. You have guts. And you're not a bad earthbender, either. What I want, girl, is to make you an offer."

She just stared and waited for whatever it was.

"I want you to attend school."

She choked a little, and drank some tea to wash it down.

"School? You fight me, kidnap me, give me food, and want to send me to some school? What is your problem?"

"As I recall it, it was you, and your friends, that assaulted me, injuring an innocent cab driver in the process."

He must've seen the guilt she was feeling, because he said:

"The cab driver is fine, by the way."

One of the servants came to Xin's side and whispered something into his ear. He got up, and the girl noticed he had one of his arms — the right one — was bent inside his robe, held by the robe, as if it were broken. Perhaps she injured him in the combat? She couldn't help but feel a little proud..

"Consider my offer. I will be back later to hear your answer. Do us all a favor and don't attempt another escape, you must be aware that you are in no condition to do so."

The girl didn't say anything, and stared at her food as he left the room with one of the servants.


End file.
